Singing, Stars Cross the Horizon
by Mikeru-D
Summary: When rumours of Kagami's dream about Konata get out the two can never avoid the teasing of their classmates. Now they are graduating they can finally escape those people. But that also means being separated from their friends, and each other...


Singing, Stars Cross the Horizon

"Ugh, you'd think after graduation we wouldn't have to come to school anymore." Konata moaned, leaning across her desk. "Isn't graduation supposed to be on the last day or something?"

"I think it's something to due with laws on education: that students have to addend school for a certain number of days each year."

"Maybe that's right, Miyuki," Konata said, sitting up straight wearily. "But it doesn't help if you have a celebratory all-nighter on online games the day after the graduation ceremony." Miyuki smiled in sympathy for her lethargic friend. Konata sighed, slumping onto the desk again. "I'd have skipped school if it weren't for Ms. Kuroi threatening to corpse-camp my level twenty for the next eight hours online... She really knows how to motivate her students, huh?"

Tsukasa slid the classroom door open and came to sit with her friends. "Good morning!" she said, brightly. The bell for homeroom rang just as Konata and Miyuki returned the greeting.

"I suppose that's why Kagami didn't come in to say hi, right?"

"Yeah, she said she didn't want to be late for her own class."

"I suppose we'll see her at lunch then, though it would have been nice for her to meet us in the morning one last time." Miyuki lamented.

"Hey! No, we're not going to talk about that!" Konata jumped to her feet in outrage. "For one last day we're still at school, for now nothing beyond today is important!"

Tsukasa was quiet for a moment, but cheered up as she realised what Konata meant. "You're right, Kona-chan, let's not think about it. We'll just enjoy today as a regular school day!"

"WHOOO!" Ms. Kuroi burst through the door, cheering. "Aaahhh, just one more day babysitting you lot and you'll all be shoved into college! I'll never have to worry about you all again!"

The group sweat-dropped as their teacher shattered their resolution to not think about the future into a thousand pieces. Students murmured uncomfortably, angry at being called babies though they were eighteen. Konata spoke-up, "Don't worry, ma'am, you'll still have to put-up with me online!"

Kuroi looked-up sharply. "So, you actually dragged your ass into school?"

"I'm actually surprised you did too, you were on as long as I was! And why didn't you tell me we had to come in today until 5.30?"

"Meh." Kuroi shrugged. "What?!" she yelled, noticing the near-empty room. "So many people are absent?! I swear, if I have to come in today I expect my class to suffer as well..."

As she called the meagre attendance the door slid open again, revealing Ms. Sakuraba and her homeroom class, including Kagami. "If you don't mind, Ms. Kuroi, I'd like to merge classes for today. Since so many students and members of staff are absent the principal decided to abolish lessons for the day and let everyone stay in their homerooms."

"...Wait, this isn't just some scheme to make me watch them all while you get to go home, is it?"

Sakuraba, noticing Kuroi's tired eyes, smiled. "Go have a coffee in the Teachers' Lounge, I'll take the first watch until lunch."

"Well isn't this generous of you? I owe you one!" Kuroi hopped to her feet, practically bounding out of the room. Kagami came to sit with the others.

"Hi, sis!" Tsukasa greeted.

"Ooh, speak of the devil and she's sure to appear!" Konata cheered.

"I think I'll ignore that." Kagami said wearily, "Hey, Miyuki."

"Good morning! Where are Kusakabe-san and Minegishi-san today?"

"Most likely, one has an early case of May sickness and the other's at her bedside."

"Hey, look. Hiiragi comes through here and she's sitting with Izumi again!" A voice came from behind them.

"Yeah, she can't bear to stay apart from her, huh?" Kagami's face reddened, and Konata slightly stiffened.

Tsukasa fidgeted as the boys began discussing how "close" the two girls were together. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I don't know how it got out..." she said quietly.

"It's okay, Tsukasa. We already said it wasn't your fault." Konata said. "Kagami, there's no need to get so flustered about it, you're still overreacting."

"Oh, yeah? Well, I don't remember you enjoying the attention very much either!" Kagami snapped. Kagami seethed as a discussion began about this "lover's quarrel". "Bah, I don't care. After today I won't have to put-up with this anymore."

"Dammit, Kagami, we already decided we're not going to care about anything coming after today!"

"Oh?" Kagami smiled slyly. "Does this mean you're refusing our invitation for tomorrow?"

"Of course not! But only as long as you're not doing any of the cooking."

"I'm looking forward to it, Kagami, Tsukasa." Miyuki said, interrupting any possibility of a second argument.

"There's not really much to look forward to: food, games, sleepover. Nothing really exceptional." Tsukasa said, modestly.

"There's a full three-course meal, courtesy of Tsukasa, to look forward to. I'd go to any party just for that!" Tsukasa flustered under Konata's praise.

Miyuki smiled, "It'll be good to spend time together, as we don't know when we-"

"Miyuki-san, don't make me yell at you too, I'm too tired." Konata interrupted with a yawn. "We are NOT talking about that."

"Well then, Konata, why else would we be having a party?" Kagami was starting to get annoyed with Konata's interruptions.

"Obviously," the blunette announced, pumping her fist, "to celebrate the end of high-school!"

"Isn't that just the same thing? I mean, the end of high-school means-"

"It doesn't have to mean anything more than I just said, Kagami! Stop being so pessimistic!" Kagami just sighed, she did agree with Konata, but she couldn't help but look at this as the end of the friendship they were used to. _God, I'll miss this..._

"We're home!" Tsukasa called, slipping her shoes off as Kagami shut the door behind them.

"Oh, hey." Matsuri called from the kitchen. "How was your day, Tsukasa?"

"It was okay. There weren't many people at school today so my and Kagami's homeroom classes were merged for the day." Tsukasa said, wandering to the kitchen. "Sensei joked she was giving us homework over Spring break... Actually, she was acting a little funny all day after she came back to the classroom."

"Tsukasa, I think the teachers were helping themselves to something a little stronger than coffee in the Teacher's Lounge." Kagami said wearily, "I doubt caffeine would have been enough to make Ms. Kuroi think she and Konata were in their online game."

"Oh, Kagami, you don't look so cheery. What happened to you today?"

"A few boys were giving her a little bother again." Tsukasa explained. Kagami cringed, _Here it comes..._

"Oho!" Matsuri smirked triumphantly, "Is this that thing about that Izumi kid again?" Kagami fumed silently, staring at the floor, while Tsukasa motioned wildly, silently begging her sister to stop her teasing. Matsuri paid no attention, "They're still going on about that?! Wow... Heh, the only reason I can imagine for them doing that would be that it's true..."

Kagami exploded, "Shut up! Yes, I said it! I _said_ it! And apparently what doesn't matter is whether or not I actually _meant_ it!" She stormed away from her sister, stamping her feet on the stairs as she ascended. Matsuri, stunned by the outburst, loudly released her breath and turned back to her magazine.

Matsuri left about an hour later, as she herself was going to spend time with friends that night. Tsukasa waited until then to check on Kagami. She found her lying on her bed, head buried in her pillow. "Sis?" she asked tentatively, "Are you okay?"

Kagami lifted herself up and turned to her twin, her face a little red though there were no tears on her face. "Yeah," she sighed, "I just wish people would stop bringing it up time and time again."

After sitting in silence for a while, Tsukasa said "I was going to bake a cake for tomorrow, do you want to come give me a hand?"

Kagami slid off her bed, "Yeah, I suppose it'll take my mind off it."

Between the two of them, they were working quite well: Kagami got the ingredients ready for Tsukasa, who would handle any actual cooking to avoid any danger to their precious cake. Shortly it was baking in the oven and the two were washing and drying the soiled utensils. "Sis, I think Konata's right: you shouldn't be reacting so harshly to this, especially after this long." Tsukasa thought Kagami might be able to talk about it, now that she was more relaxed.

Kagami sighed. "I know, it's just, I can't believe people would keep thinking about stuff like that. It's been ages since they heard about it, why don't they forget about it like they do with all the other rumours that start-up?"

"Well, maybe the way you react to them made them think there was something to it. Some people are like that: taking little things like that as signs that something's going on between two people. Konata says stuff like that goes around on internet sites all the time. But it shouldn't really bother you as much as you let it, sis."

"I suppose..." Kagami said, not really convinced. She suddenly brightened, "Hey, problem solved! I doubt I'll be seeing any of those people in college, so it doesn't matter anymore anyway!" She laughed a little in relief.

The two girls made the most of their comparatively heightened spirits by listening to a CD while waiting for the cake to finish cooking. Shortly the two were half-singing half-laughing as they took turns trying to sing each song properly, as they only knew some of the words. The cake, almost holy in its perfection, was left out to cool overnight. By the time they took it out of the oven it was late enough for them for them to go to bed, which they did after warning their family not to even breath on their masterpiece.

Alone in her room, Kagami's thoughts returned to what she'd said, semi-conscious, all that time ago. How everyone found-out, no-one knew, but how else was she supposed to have reacted to all those rumours? And what Tsukasa said: that her reaction made everyone think she had meant it. _Is that really why they thought that? Is that really why they kept bothering me and Konata about it? ...Konata? Is that why..._ She slowly slipped into sleep, plagued by a nightmare of everyone at school pointing, laughing, throwing things while she and Konata walked, huddled together, clutching each other's hand in terror.

The doorbell rang continuously for the whole twenty seconds it took Kagami to reach the door. Even as she opened it, Konata continued to press the button. Kagami stood there in disbelief for five seconds, "...You do realise the door's open now, right?" she finally said.

"Yep." Konata still didn't stop. Kagami sighed before rolling the door open wider and walking back into the house. She was too tired to deal with that kind of thing: those nightmares made sleeping difficult and she had awoken tired and groggy. Konata jumped inside, realising her joke wasn't having the desired effect on her friend, and stumbled to take her shoes off before running up to Kagami. "Kagami! Good morning! How are you doing?"

Kagami firmly prised Konata's arms from around her midriff, "What're you doing here, Konata? We said we'd be ready for you at 5pm."

"Well, I thought Tsukasa'd need a hand preparing the food, considering she's only got Ms. Grumpy Third-Wheel to help her out- Ow!!"

Kagami, still holding Konata's forearm, had twisted her wrist suddenly and thumped the top of her head. "I'm pretty sure Tsukasa could somehow manage without the help of this Ms. Irritating Third-Wheel!" Kagami's tiredness made coming-up with decent retorts difficult, so she was forced to improvise.

"Oh? Since when did we have the same family name, Kagami?" Konata teased, rubbing the spot where Kagami had struck. For a moment Kagami drew a parallel between what Konata said and her nightmare, but paid no attention to it. Konata seemed to forget the harsh welcome as she greeted Tsukasa, who was putting the finishing touches to the cake in the kitchen. It took a little effort to keep Konata from licking the leftover icing from the bowl, though she did anyway once Kagami's back was turned. Now that Konata was helping the final preparations for the party were completed at double pace: a beef stew was prepared by Tsukasa for their dinner, party snacks were plated and bowled; drinks ready to be poured; games consoles and DVDs selected in advance; and futons lain-out in both girls' rooms, in case someone wanted to sleep while the others kept playing.

Miyuki called at 4.30 to be sure they were ready, before arriving promptly at 5o'clock. In this time the remaining Hiiragis made their respective exits. Tadao and Miki had decided to visit her cousin while Inori decided to meet-up with her old college friends.

"Quite rude of them, don't you think? Not waiting to meet the people they'd invited to stay the night." Konata said, as Kagami explained why the house was empty to Miyuki.

"Konata, they already met you today. In fact, maybe the reason they left so quick is because they couldn't bear to have you bother them any longer."

"Waa, Kagami is saying such cruel things to me~!" Konata wailed, enjoying the sympathetic pat on the head she received from Miyuki. Kagami sighed and lead them into the lounge.

"It's still a little early for dinner, so I'll leave everything to simmer: just let me know when everyone's hungry!" Tsukasa untied her apron and joined the others, watching as Konata sifted through the house's videogame library.

"Excellent plan!" Konata cheered, "Now, how's about we play-"

"No." Kagami quickly cut her off as she saw the game Konata was lifting from the box. "We can't appreciate horrors like you, Konata. We should try...this!"

Konata had to cross her eyes to make sense of the cover held just millimetres in front of her nose, eventually realising it was a karaoke game. "I suppose so, it'll get us into the party mood for sure!"

Despite being completely outstripped by Konata's impressively flexible singing voice, all the girls had fun. Kagami and Tsukasa sang the same songs they had sang the night before to find-out who could sing them better. The results for each song was different, but the overall percentages were quite similar. "Hmm: twins by name, twins by nature..." Konata observed.

"At least you're recognising our similarities for once rather than just our differences." Kagami heard mutterings about white and black souls from Konata while Tsukasa just smiled.

There were only two microphones and so the ones who weren't playing would pass the time eating snacks, talking and watching the other two play. Konata's impressive winning streak only ended when she had a coughing fit while trying to hit the screaming notes on a punk metal song, which Miyuki, who she was playing against, took complete advantage of. Drinking a glass of water to ease her throat, Konata choked again as she saw Miyuki entering her name in the high-scores.

At 7.30 the girls decided to stop to eat. It was just as well, considering Konata had demanded she re-attempt the song until she perfected it: currently, she had only reached fifth place.

"Wait a minute, I thought this was supposed to be a three-course meal?" Konata complained, thoroughly enjoying her portion of the stew.

"Didn't you just decide that for yourself yesterday?" Kagami said irritably. "Try having a little more respect for your hosts."

"Well," Tsukasa eye-smiled, "I thought it'd be a bit much if we were to eat a first-course on top of all the snacks, so I just made that the first course."

"Yeah, but you forgot to prepare it properly for this situation."

_She's still criticising..._ Kagami simmered.

"Oh? Why's that, Konata?" Tsukasa asked.

"You didn't prepare enough for us once Kagami'd finished with her massive share!" Kagami lunged at Konata, who cried "Don't eat me, Kagami-sama!" before having a nearby chocolate cornet forced down her throat.

While Tsukasa patted the choking Konata's back, Miyuki turned to Kagami. "I have read that it is more important to eat well rather than forcing yourself to lose weight by eating little."

"Bah!" gasped Konata. "Ugh, I don't see how that could work."

"It all comes down to the type of food you eat." Miyuki explained. "If you eat high quantities of food containing a lot of fast-release energy, it's quite likely it won't all be used, and so will turn to fat. However, if you eat the same amount of food containing slow-release energy, it will be used over a longer period of time and so will be less likely to become fat. This type of diet is also often adopted by people with diabetes and other such problems to minimise the effects of diet to their bodies."

"Oh, is that right? I didn't know food could have an effect like that." Tsukasa said, surprised as ever by Miyuki's knowledge.

"But who could really be bothered enough to look-up what kinds of food are like that, right?" Kagami said nothing, hiding her eyes behind her hair, ashamed.

After the stew came the dessert: Kagami and Tsukasa's Glorious Sponge-Cake.

"Shouldn't it be "_Tsukasa_ and _Kagami's_", considering Tsukasa-chan did most of the work?"

"Shut up." Kagami huffed. "So I'm no good at cooking..."

"I wonder if it's safe for me to be eating this..." Konata sighed dramatically. "Tsukasa, Miyuki, you two have rights to my anime, manga, and merchandise: do with them as you will. Nothing for my murderer..."

"Why am I being cut-out of your will? Or rather, as if you'd die after eating cake!" Kagami yelled in exasperation. Konata hesitantly sniffed at her slice of cake, a small nibble, and then a generous mouthful. "Try eating like a normal person, rather than an animal-" Kagami was cut-off by Konata falling backwards onto the floor.

"It seems I have died after all!" she announced, teary-eyed and a peaceful expression on her face. No-one knew what she meant by this until she suddenly sat-up, "Kagami can cook after all!" she yelled, grinning and giving her surprised friend a cheesy thumbs-up.

"Well, like I said, Tsukasa did most of the work..." Kagami responded, flustered.

""Jeez, Kagami, just accept the compliment." Konata smiled. Suddenly Miyuki started coughing after taking a bite herself. Konata looked from Kagami, who was patting Miyuki's back, to her half-eaten slice of cake, and back again. "I knew it." she muttered, pushing the plate away from her. "Man, I was close..."

The night wore on as they sat talking for a while. Everyone began to get bored of playing singing games and so they switched between party, quiz and eventually fighting genres, before it got very late. Tsukasa was almost falling asleep in her seat and Miyuki was yawning herself, so with a goodnight, she led her semi-conscious friend to her room to sleep. For a while Kagami and Konata sat there, mashing buttons in silence to achieve victory. Konata won. Before beginning the next fight Konata stopped for a moment. "It's been a fun night, hasn't it?"

"For you, maybe." Kagami said, still a little sore from Konata's insinuations of her terrible cooking skills. But then she thought about the four of them: just enjoying each others' company. "...Yeah, I suppose so."

"To think though, that this might be one of the last times..."

"Hey, I thought no-one was supposed to talk about that." Kagami smiled.

Konata returned it. "Yeah, you're right. But I'll miss it all the same." Kagami stared at the TV, watching the image orbiting around Konata's all-but-forgotten character. Konata stared too, but her eyes were distant. After a little while she said, "It could have been a better end to High School, couldn't it?"

"Hmm?" Kagami wondered. "Oh, you mean those guys yesterday."

Konata nodded. "You know, I tried not letting it bother me, but it did."

Kagami was surprised at how Konata had opened-up like this. "You never look like anything ever gets to you."

"I try not to let people worry about me." Kagami suddenly noticed how small Konata seemed. Rigid, as though she was afraid to move in case she attract unwanted attention.

"You know," she continued, starting the next game. "When I first heard about what you'd said, I was quite flattered about it!" she laughed.

"Oioi..." Kagami sighed, blushing slightly at the memory. But Konata's joke hadn't been as convincing as it normally would have been. It sounded slightly forced, and her face lacked it's usual mischievous glee.

"It wasn't so much what they said, but what they meant by it." Kagami didn't understand, so Konata continued. "Saying those things as though they were true, even though there was no proof beyond what rumours they'd heard. Even though I..."

Konata had lost the fight. Kagami hadn't taken a single hit, in fact, Konata's character hadn't moved at all. Kagami looked to her silently shaking friend. Overwhelmed by pity and understanding she pulled her into her arms, rubbing her back to sooth her as Konata's tears wet her shirt.

"I know, Konata, I know. It's horrible what they were saying, isn't it? But it's okay now. It's fine."

But Konata shook her head. "No. But what was really hurting me, Kagami- What was really hurting me." she sobbed. "Was how none of it was true. I wanted it to be true so there would at least be meaning to their teasing!" She clung, still crying, to Kagami, who was too shocked to respond. "If it'd been true I wouldn't have cared what they said. I wouldn't be hurting inside. I would have been happy. And now school's over, it'll be so hard to see each other again. I missed my chance. I would have been happy. And-" She stopped suddenly, realising what she'd just revealed. She looked up at Kagami, tears still standing-out on her cheeks, and said, hesitantly, "And maybe you'd have been happy too."

Neither looked at the other, but they still sat close, in the same position. Minutes passed, but Kagami still couldn't say anything. Eventually, Konata spoke-up. "Kagami. I'm sorry I said all that, but I meant it. I-If you don't want anything like that between us I won't force you, but..."

Kagami started to get up. Konata shifted away a little to give her room to move. "I'm going to go brush my teeth." she said, a little weakly. Konata could only nod before watching her walk away. She turned back to the TV, but her mind was on anything but her computer-controlled opponent. She could hardly even see the characters.

Kagami's head spun as she leaned over the bathroom sink, splashing cold water onto her already damp face. She had cried silently when she realised how hurt Konata had been by those jibes. She'd had no idea. What had probably been worse for her was how she had bottled it all up, until now. But now. Now Konata had told her that she had wished they had been dating, and that she _wanted_ to date her. Kagami pulled over a small stool to sit on, burying her face in her hands, elbows on her knees. She wanted to laugh, she wanted to cry, she wanted to scream. How did she feel? Well, it made sense of a few things: the teasing, the bothering, the random urges for physical contact; now she knew why Konata acted like that. But how did she, Kagami, feel about it?

She hadn't expected this, or anything like this. She got up, staring into the great blue eyes of her reflection in her mother's full-length mirror. Those eyes of hers: what did they see? She undressed, folding her clothes on the floor beside her, and looked at herself. She had grown-up tall, and she'd been told she was beautiful, though she wasn't so sure for herself: she still had some puppy-fat on her belly, and her breasts weren't quite as large as she'd have liked them to be. Although, she did love the look her sharply-angled eyes gave her and, pulling her ribbons out, she marvelled at the touch of her long, soft, violet hair. How she'd changed over the last three years.

She remembered her dreams at the beginning of High School: she'd wanted to become more mature, get good grades, make new friends. And, she'd wanted to get a boyfriend. That was where she spent her every spare effort, in the hopes that some decent guy would fall in love with her, adore her, and swear to be with her forever. That's what she'd dreamed as a fifteen year-old girl. Now she was eighteen, just graduated from High School, and it seemed all the boys were content with simply making fun of her, or otherwise misunderstanding her feelings. However, inexplicably, something had happened that she had never imagined. Yes, someone had fallen in love with her, but that person was _Konata_. And strangest of all, just maybe, she had fallen in love with...

"No! Stop thinking too much into this." she told her reflection. She pulled-on her pyjamas and picked-up her clothes to lie in her room. As she did she still wondered, _Do I love Konata?_ How could she simply give herself an answer, yes or no? She thought over everything: their friendship, their daily interactions, the stress they'd been through together for the past few months. _The past few months..._

Hadn't it been _her_ who had started it all? It was rumours of what she had said that had caused the whole problem. What she had said that day, she barely remembered, but she had said it. What did that mean? Was it her subconscious mind coming to the fore? Did she really, secret even from herself, love Konata? She sighed aloud, walking back to the lounge. She couldn't cope with it all right now. She would just tell Konata she was going to bed and deal with it when she had the energy.

The lights had turned themselves off. The soft hum of the games console reverberated through the whole room. Kagami leaned over the sleeping form of Konata, lying along half of the sofa, being only so tall. She brushed wet strands of hair from around her puffy eyes. Fresh tears glinted beside her beauty spot in the harsh glow of the TV screen.

Kagami was suddenly struck by the fragility of her seemingly thick-skinned friend: eyes screwed-up against the glow of the TV, mouth still twisted in a grimace of emotional anguish. She gently held the sleeping girl's hand, watching, amazed, as her expression suddenly began relaxing into a small smile. It was then that Kagami remembered the nightmare she'd had the night before. An emotion she'd felt then, something she hadn't noticed amongst the sadness and ridicule. Something so small, yet so important she could hardly believe she had missed it. Peace. Throughout the whole dream, despite everything she suffered through, she felt at peace as long as she had been holding Konata's hand. She knew, at that moment, that Konata felt at peace just as she had.

And so she knew that she loved her. She had loved everything about who Konata was: from the single-minded otaku, to the deeply emotional girl she had just revealed herself to be. The thrill of this realisation filled her, she felt about to burst from happiness. She loved her, but she couldn't say it. Not yet. She gently smoothed Konata's hair away from her face and gently called to her. "Konata. Konata, come on, we need to get you to bed."

"Kagami...Kagami, look, your belly-flab is folding..." Konata mumbled, shifting slightly.

Kagami smiled, "You know, you're way cuter when you're just sleeping quietly." She gave the sleeping girl a strong but gentle tug at the ankle, swinging her leg around. This worked enough to wake Konata up slightly.

"Um...Kagami, give me back my leg..." she murmured, slightly panicking.

"Don't worry," Kagami whispered, "I'm just trying to walk you up to my room, okay?"

"Okay, but I can't move without my legs..."

Kagami managed to gently lift Konata, her arm around her shoulders. Her heart beat fast at being so close to Konata: she did love her, after all. Konata giggled something about playing football with the planet, as her feet kept hitting the sides of the stairs, while Kagami was just surprised at how light she was. They managed to get to Kagami's room without any more trouble. A futon was already laid-out on the floor for Konata, but she collapsed onto Kagami's bed before she could be stopped.

"Konata! No, come on, you need to get in the futon."

"But, it's a bed, and I want a bed..." And with that, Konata fell back into her deep sleep.

"Jeez..." Kagami moaned, "You're not even undressed..."

Konata subconsciously must have heard what she'd said and fought to respond, "Kagami," she whispered, breathlessly . "Kagami. Undress me, please..."

"What?! No! I couldn't..."

"Please, Kagami? I won't be comfortable if you don't..." Her slurring voice was the only thing proving that she was still only semi-conscious. Maybe she thought she was dreaming?

"Well..." Kagami hesitated, "I suppose if you'll be comfier..."

Konata had relaxed, probably having gone back to sleep again. Kagami, however, was even more tense than before. Her heart raced faster than when she had helped her upstairs, and her face reddened at the thought of what she was doing. Slowly, fumbling with unsteady fingers, she unbuttoned her jeans, revealing a pair of small white panties around her waist. Kagami swallowed hard as she pulled the leggings from around her ankles. She lay the jeans flat next to her own clothes before turning back to Konata. She kneeled beside her on the bed, lifting up her shirt, just enough to expose a sky-blue training bra, before raising her arms to get it over her head. Kagami worried for a moment that, when the shirt's neck caught under her nose, Konata would wake-up, and how would she explain herself? But Konata settled for a small snort and only shifted slightly. Getting all of the long, cerulean hair out of the shirt was a challenge in itself: if it caught Konata might wake-up, but it was managed without much difficulty.

There lay Konata: wearing only panties and a bra, hair splayed around her looking for all like waves on the ocean. Kagami pulled the covers up around her, resigning herself to sleeping on the futon, but at that moment Konata gave a tiny moan, as if begging for Kagami to be close to her again. Kagami just couldn't resist. Quietly, she slipped in beside Konata and turned off the light. Konata slowly began go cling onto Kagami: holding onto her arm, wrapping her legs around hers, and then hugging her waist. Kagami felt happiness and bliss beyond anything she had felt before: there she lay, wrapped around the one she loved so effortlessly, just as she had imagined she would, even if it was Konata. She finally said it aloud: between falling asleep herself and feeling Konata gently nuzzling against her breast she couldn't stop herself, "I love you, Konata."

"...Kagami?"

"Ahh! What?! You're awake?!" Kagami cried, embarrassed at being heard.

"Yeah, you woke me up about where, where you were taking my shirt off..." Konata confessed.

"But...wha...why didn't you say anything sooner?"

"Because I wanted to see if you'd say anything, like that." she said, a little smugly. "And...I really enjoyed what you were doing..."

Kagami moaned, mortified at being caught doing such a thing. "You know, you're the one who told me to undress you."

Konata just nodded, "Yeah, and I'm sure you didn't enjoy it either? You don't really have an excuse." The two lay in silence for a while, still wrapped in each-other's arms. "Did you mean it, Kagami? When you said you loved me?"

Kagami hesitated a moment, gathering the confidence to say it again, knowing Konata could hear her this time. "Konata... Yeah, I meant it. I love you."

Suddenly, Kagami felt a strange, moist feeling across her lips. Two pairs of unskilled lips met: a little too hard, a little too soft. Each quickly grew used to the sensation and began to enjoy the kiss. Kagami let out her tongue to massage Konata's cat-like lips, which opened to let hers into Kagami's mouth. They caressed the other's face gently and ran their hands through their hair, already losing themselves in each other. This continued for nearly half a minute before the two were out of breath, having forgotten to use their noses, and settled for simply lying together.

"Kagami..." Konata began. "Your family. I mean, you work as a shrine-maiden... What'll they think about us being together?"

"I don't care. Konata, right now, you're all that's important to me." Kagami promised. "But you know, things for us will only be getting worse. Those guys back then were nothing compared to what might happen to us now. I don't want you to be getting as upset as you were before."

"Kagami, you'll need to start listening to me if you say you love me." Konata smiled. "I told you earlier, didn't I? That if I had been with you I'd have been happy? I really meant it."

"Ha," Kagami laughed quietly. "I thought we weren't going talking about the future."

"But now it's a future I can look forward to." Konata said, snuggling her cheeks between Kagami's breasts, making Kagami blush happily.

The two lay there in each other's arms, ecstatic at the contact between their bodies. "Wait a minute," Kagami said, just as fatigue began to draw them to sleep. "You haven't said you love me yet!"

"Way to ruin the mood, Kagami," Konata rolled her eyes. "I pretty much have already! Stop being so fussy."

"No! You have to actually say it!" Kagami demanded.

"I know, I just wanted you to be as tsuntsun as possible when I did."

"Please be serious, Konata. No otaku jargon when we're like this, okay?"

"Perfect!" cheered Konata, surprising Kagami. She quickly adopted a suitably wistful anime-related expression, or so Kagami thought, before realising it was her natural expression at that very moment. Gazing into Kagami's eyes she spoke clearly and truthfully, "I love you, Kagami," leaning in for a second, more gentle kiss.

After lying in peace for a while Kagami felt Konata fall asleep beside her. She herself was still too restless to sleep: she loved Konata, she was lying in bed with her, and she felt at peace like she never had before. But although she was happy her rational mind was still active, and so she thought about what had to happen for them to be together. What would their friends, their families say? And yes, they had confessed that they loved each other, but they might not be able to attend the same college: how often would they be able to meet? Kagami wished that they were still just in High School, that they could just live as they had done, even if only for another year. She gazed over Konata's head, out of the uncovered window at the stars in the sky. She couldn't see it, but she knew that they were up there, moving slowly from East to West across the sky. Maybe, just like those stars, she and her friends were next to slip over the horizon and into a new stage of life. This change was inevitable. They didn't know what waited for them on the other side, but it didn't necessarily have to be bad. _At least_, Kagami thought, hugging her blue-haired lover, sleeping in her arms, W_hen stars cross the horizon, they all cross it together._

Author's Notes: Well, it's taken me more than four weeks to write, but I have to say I am very pleased with this: I really enjoyed writing it. I actually surprised myself with the end result! But that's not really important, is it? What matters is what you thought of it, so please leave me a review to tell me what you think! Thank you for taking the time to read this!


End file.
